The rash of power outages spreading across The Bahamas is highly unacceptable. The excuses that have been proffered are nothing more than a continuation of excuses that have marked the incompetence that has been going on at BPL/BEC for decades. The question is, will anyone be held accountable for this fiasco? Will anyone be held accountable to The Bahamian people?

This perennial debacle is a reflection of inept government policies and decisions that are made based on political expediency and relationships with special interests who benefit from these government policies. The Bahamian people are sick and tired and have had enough of the suffering that has been inflicted upon them by successive PLP and FNM administrations. Every year, millions of dollars are paid by the Bahamian people in the form of taxes and fees for inconsistent essential services. Special interests have continued to get wealthier off the backs of poor and working class Bahamians who could ill afford these outrageously high electricity costs, much less the standby generators that the wealthy use to avoid the inconveniences at BPL.

The declining level of service rendered to the Bahamian people is not only cruel, but symptomatic of the way in which BPL and BEC has been managed. The shady deals and corrupt practices that have been common place has dictated the level of service that The Bahamian people have been receiving. The Democratic National Alliance DEMANDS that the government open all of the operations of BPL to the daylight of public scrutiny, so that all of us can see the details of the agreements that were supposedly made on behalf of the Bahamian people. We challenge the government of the Bahamas to prove that best practices were followed in the procurement of these new generators, the service contracts and the fuel purchasing contracts. What are the rates being paid for these rental generators and to whom are we paying?

As part of our good governance pledge in our platform, The DNA assures The Bahamian people that the suffering, exploitation and fleecing of The Bahamian people will come to an end when we are in office. In our forthcoming position paper on energy, The Bahamian people will see our bold vision that includes, among other things, renewable resources and alternative forms of energy generation. There will be brighter days under the DNA!